Confusion: minimum wage still $4.00 in the VI; no laws to increase to $6.00
How the confusion started?
The misinformation and confusion started when the Minister for Natural Resources and Labour Dr The Honourable Kedrick D. Pickering (R7) presented in the House of Assembly (HoA) a recommendation from the Minimum Wage Advisory Committee chaired by Mr Simon Potter.
Dr Pickering presented the recommendations for a minimum wage increase from the current $4.00 to $6.00 on November 2, 2015 to the people of the Virgin Islands, laying the document from his appointed Minimum Wage Advisory Committee on the table of Parliament at the Fourth Sitting of the First Session of the Third House of Assembly.
However, what is important to note before the increase can take effect is that the same Minister must return to the House of Assembly with regulations to give effect to a minimum wage increase, assuming that the National Democratic Party (NDP) government has accepted the recommendation for an increase.
To date no regulations have been enacted to increase the minimum wage, therefore the $4.00 per hour is still in effect. This was also confirmed by a senior Labour Department official.
It remains unclear when this will take place and efforts to reach Dr Pickering as well as his Permanent Secretary Ronald F. Smith-Berkeley were not successful.
Employers & Employees confused
Many employers and employees have called our newsroom to seek information on this. One employer who owns a small grocery store in the Sea Cows Bay area told our news room that he interviewed three persons for a cashier position and offered the successful candidate $5.00 an hour but the young lady refused to take the job saying that she was going to Labour, as she should be paid $6.00 an hour not and $5.00.
However, the store owner was in his right to pay the $5.00 an hour as there is no law mandating $6.00 an hour until government makes the law to this effect. “A recommendation is not a law,” a local Attorney pointed out to our newsroom.
It remains unclear when the NDP administration will bring the Minimum Wage Advisory Committee's recommendation into effect but, according to our research, some businesses have starting paying the $6.00 per hour in anticipation of it coming into effect.
The last minimum wage increase was in 1999 at $4.00 per hour. The recent Minimum Wage Advisory report presented to Government in 2015 also unearthed that women are being paid less than men, and the business community dictated the $6.00 an hour recommended increase.
Last year Opposition Leader and Virgin Islands Party Chairman Hon Julian Fraser RA (R3) blasted the $2.00 increase as “peanuts” and said “Government is not fooling anyone with the $2.00 minimum wage increase.”
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27 Responses to “Confusion: minimum wage still $4.00 in the VI; no laws to increase to $6.00”
The employer can can pay what ever they want minimum wage don't mean that you have to receive that it simply means you can not go below 4$ but the the employer can give you 3x the amount of the if they see fit.
Bobbys, Bolos and the Crabbs gonna die doing that increase. They gonaa get g****y else where to make up for it
NDP need to stop playing with the people and make this very minute increase a reality. People already have to come up with extra money for NHI as the cost of living continues to rise and yet the Government continues to pussyfoot on the issue.